The Prince of Ages
by abbyj461
Summary: Toris leads a normal life with a normal job. Or so he thought. Ever since he read the legend of Hitherea he's been having strange dreams about a man with blond hair and green eyes that look like they're half open. He must uncover the secrets of this mysterious land and what it has to do with him before it's too late. Leitpol fantasy au
1. Chapter 1 - The Legend of Hitherea

_It is said that the kingdom of Hitherea is a magical place, ruled by the King of Ages. It is linked to this world in by portals scattered across the land. In Hitherea, many magical beings such as dragons and minotaurs exist. Not much is known about the legend of the King of Ages or the land of Hitherea itself, for the story was burned long ago by explorers. It is known, however, that the King of Ages is randomly selected from all the peoples of Earth and will rule alongside a guardian, who is supposedly some sort of immortal spirit. _

Toris closed the book and looked up at his roommate and best friend, Alfred. "It seems interesting," Toris said. "I wish it hadn't been burned."

Alfred picked up the book, titled _Book of Many Legends, _examined it for a few seconds, and slammed it down on the table. Toris let out a quick "hey" and made sure the book hadn't been damaged by Alfred's rough treatment of it. He shot a quick irritated glance at Alfred, but he would never notice, considering his inability to ever sense the mood.

"I don't really know man, I guess it sounds cool, but sometimes you can get too caught up in legends and things that don't exist," Alfred said. "Anyway, I got this amazing new video game and we need to try it out, bro."

A sigh escaped Toris's mouth. Alfred could be a bit much sometimes, from his excessive obsession with video games to his tendency of watching horror movies to scare himself and forcing Toris to watch them with him. He had just bought and beat a new video game just yesterday and now was asking Toris to help him try a new one. However, Alfred needed a friend and he didn't have enough money for his own house, so, Toris, being the good friend that he was, let Alfred stay in his house until he could move out. "Fine, I'll play the game with you," he said

"Alright bro! That's totally cool!"

That night, Toris had a strange dream. He had no idea what was going on, but it seemed oddly familiar to him.

In his dream, Toris sat on a glittering throne, and a crown of gold was placed on top of his head. Suddenly, his hand was grabbed by someone else's and his crown clattered to the ground. He couldn't see much, and he didn't know who it was, but it felt right and normal somehow. Through an enormous city they ran, veering through alleys and dashing down streets. Eventually, they reached a warehouse Toris was pulled in by the stranger. The stranger turned around and Toris could see that it was a man with straight blond hair and green eyes that looked half open. He smiled in a way that would have looked childish and fun loving if he hadn't been serious at the moment.

"You need to leave your house," the man said.

It was so strange. Toris knew that he had never met the man before or seen the city, but in his heart, it all seemed right.

"They're coming and you, like, need to leave," continued the man in his semi-serious tone.

"Who's coming? Who's they? What's going on?" asked Toris.

"On your work trip, find me and stuff. Seek me out." There was a banging on the door of the warehouse. The man put his finger onto Toris's head. "You need to wake up now."

Oddly enough, the next day, Toris found out that he had to leave for a work trip in a few days. "Alfred, I need to travel for work again," he said. "Don't make a mess out of the house like you did last time."

Alfred was laying on the couch, his feet crossed in a completely relaxed manner. "Yeah, okay bro."

"Speaking of jobs, when are you going to get your own so you can move out? Not that I don't like having you here, but you should get started on your own life. Also, why aren't you at McDonald's doing your job right now?"

Alfred sighed and took out his phone. "Jeez, you're not my mom, and I got fired if you're wondering."

"What?"

"I couldn't resist, Toris, the hamburgers were just so attractive."

"Um, okay. Anyway, I'm going to go pack my bags."

"Oh man, you always do that really early, don't you?"

When Toris arrived at his destination for work, he was greeted by his boss, Ivan, and told that he would meet the person that he needed to work with the next day, but that today, he should find a hotel and stay there for the night, but when he went to sleep, Toris had another strange dream.

It was the same man from before, but this time, the dream started in some sort of woods. Toris didn't have time for observation. The man seemed urgent and rushed this time, just as much as last time.

He grabbed Toris by the shoulders. "Good, you went on the job thing. Now all you need to do is, like, find me."

"And how do I do that?" asked Toris.

"I don't know, it just sort of, you know, happens, like fate," replied the man.

Suddenly, the man's face turned to surprise and shock as a black figure swept a sword across of him. Toris yelped and jumped back as the man dissipated into dust, and was swept away by the wind. He couldn't see anything of the shadowy figure, except for a cruel smile, and its sword was pointed at Toris's chest.

Toris jumped up in bed, with sweat dripping down his face, remembering that it was only a dream, even though it had seemed so vivid. Just something about the way that dark figure smiled at him and pointed that silver blade made a shiver run down Toris's spine. It was almost familiar somehow. The figure seemed so familiar somehow and he swore he knew that smile. Toris buried his face in his pillow and tried to relax, but even while he kept telling himself that it was only a dream, he still found it hard to go back to sleep that night.

**_A/N - This is a fantasy au which will eventually end up with Leitpol btw. I love fantasy. It's like my genre but this is my first fic in this genre. Since Lithuania's my favorite character, I thought I would wright with him as the main character. I hope you all enjoy and have a happy new year!_**


	2. Chapter 2 - The Man From the Dreams

Toris sat in the meeting hall, loosening his tie. The meeting was over, but Ivan had told Toris to wait in the room for his new partner, who supposedly had the same job as him in the other parts of the company. They were supposed to come up with a plan on how to deal with another company, but that was complicated. Finally, his "partner" and Ivan walked in and Toris tried not to gasp in surprise.

It was the same man from Toris's dreams. The vivid face with those green eyes like dimmed emeralds and his golden hair could never escape Toris's mind.

"Ok, Toris, this is your new partner, Feliks, and I want you to do the job I assigned you two," instructed Ivan. Toris nodded, and Feliks gave him a wink as if he had met Toris before. Well, he had. But that was only a dream. Was that even possible?

Feliks strode up to Toris and jutted out his hand which Toris shook it in response. "Sup' I'm Feliks."

"Toris Laurinaitis. I'm pleased to meet you."

Ivan walked up to the two of them. "Now that you two have met, I'm expecting a full report and presentation on what we should do about the rival company and why we should do it by next monday. Understand?"

Toris nodded quickly and said "yes, sir" while Feliks just sat down on a chair, kicked his legs up, and yawned "Yeah." It was as if he didn't know how important jobs and formality was

Ivan closed the door.

Feliks jumped out of his chair and wheeled around to face Toris, his expression changing from relaxed to serious in a flash. Now that their boss was gone, he decided to be serious. Interesting.

Toris pulled out a chair and sat down, ignoring the other's strange behaviour. They had a job to do. "So, I'll get powerpoint open on my laptop out. I've already done some research on the subject be-" Toris began, but he was interrupted by Felix who grabbed his arm and yanked him up to a standing position.

"We need to get out of here," whispered Feliks. "There are security cameras everywhere and I don't want you to get caught."

Toris blinked in confusion, but Feliks put his index finger on Toris's mouth before he could say anything. Feliks's expression became relaxed again. "This meeting room is like, totally boring. Do you have anywhere else we could stay in private, like, a hotel room?" he resumed in his informal tone.

"Uh, sure."

"I'm, like, not driving."

"Okay."

The meeting room was on the fourth floor, so they headed to the stairs, which were closer than the elevator. To Toris's surprise, Feliks didn't mind at all. He stayed behind Toris the entire time, not initiating conversation, but urging Toris to move forward faster, with an urgency that he didn't understand.

Suddenly, as they were walking down from the third floor to the second floor and turned a corner, a group of three masked people, dressed in all black, stood in front of them, blocking their path. "Crap," Feliks hissed. "They caught us."

"Who…" Toris trailed off as he saw that the three people were holding guns aimed at them. Even more surprisingly, Feliks's suit began to shimmer, and the next thing Toris knew, he was dressed in a frilly, pink, dress that reached about a third of the way down his thighs, and a sword in his hand. If their lives weren't in danger, Toris might of thought that the dress looked pretty good on Feliks, and that it somehow seemed quite badass that he had a sword in hand while wearing a dress. Feliks aimed the sword at the three aiming guns at them and he smiled in confidence at their three opposers.

Gunshots rang out and Toris jumped down to the ground and shielded his head in his arms in a desperate attempt to avoid getting shot. Out of the corner of his eye, Toris thought he saw the sword glowing Felix slashing it at incredible speed and felt a slight vibration reverberating throughout his body. He braced for an ultimate pain and more loud gunshots and…

Laughter.

It was Feliks's. When Toris looked up, Feliks's sword was definitely glowing, and the ground was scattered with bullets, each of them cut cleanly in half. Their opposers guns were also cut in half, the three of them shaking their hands seemingly in pain.

"You really thought you could actually do something with just some non-magical weapons. Wow, you guys really amuse me," gawked Feliks. Toris couldn't speak. He was too busy standing there in shock at what had just happened, not believing his eyes.

The the opponents dropped to the ground as Feliks banged each one of them on the head with his sword handle.

Feliks grabbed Toris's hand and yanked him down the stairs. "Come on, there might be more of them. I'll explain later."

They continued down the stairs and burst out the front door. Toris telling Feliks where his car was located. Feliks jumped into the passenger seat and urged Toris onward to go to their hotel.

Toris's car zoomed down the road, slightly above speed limit. "Call the police!" he panicked as Feliks placed his sword (which had somehow shrunk) on the midsection between him and Toris.

"Only if you want to get like everyone killed," replied Feliks. "It's ok. Now that we left that place we should be pretty safe."

"Well, are you going to explain to me what happened?"

"I'll explain later."

"Your sword! It glowed! How did that happen? And your clothes changed within seconds! How did you cut all of those bullets in-"

"I told you, I'll totally explain it later."

"And aren't dresses for girls?"

"I did some totally amazing magical stuff and you're wondering about my dress?"

"Well you keep saying you'll explain everything later..."

"It's more comfortable and fashionable. Gender roles and stuff have like, totally gotten out of hand on Earth."

"On Earth?"

"I told you, I'll explain stuff later."

When they got to the hotel and got to Toris's room, Feliks had to go to the bathroom, leaving Toris alone in the main room.

Toris jumped out onto his bed, letting out air from his lungs as he did so, relieving the tension from his body and letting the adrenaline flow out of his system. It was all a dream. It had to be. Feliks was just a figment of his imagination, his own consciousness. It was still early in the morning, and Toris would go to work and meet his actual partner, not whatever Feliks was. He would take the stairs down yet again and drive home safely, without the worry that a bullet would shatter his car's glass at any moment and strike his heart, leaving him dead. It was all a dream. It was just a dream. But when Toris opened his eyes, Feliks was still there, standing just outside the bathroom door.

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN - So, things are finally starting to get interesting and Toris and Feliks have met up. I'm sorry that the last chapter was so boring, and I promise that everything will be explained in the next chapter. I hope you all enjoy and have a happy 2015!_**


	3. Chapter 3 - The Kiss

Toris laid there on the bed for a while, and somehow, thank goodness, Feliks managed to give him some time to himself. Well, as close to being time alone as he could possibly get, considering they were trapped in a smallish hotel room together and if they ever left, they would risk being caught and possibly killed by some organization. A massive headache throbbed throughout his mind, making it impossible to think or speak, the most relaxing option just to stay on the bed and not move a muscle. After about fifteen minutes of Toris laying there with his arm over his eyes, attempting to relieve his pain, Feliks finally decided that he needed to get his attention.

Toris sensed something odd, and removed his arm from his eyes, only to be greeted by Feliks's golden hair, a frilly pink bow topping it off, his emerald eyes staring straight at Toris. He looked to be deep in concentration. Toris's eyes snapped fully open, and he jumped back a few inches, banging his head on the back of the wall, which only made his headache worse. "Ow," he groaned, but the constant pounding in his head threatened to worsen by the second if he didn't return to attempting to relax. Toris lay back down and closed his eyes, ignoring Feliks's strange actions.

Suddenly, he felt a finger against his temple and a flow of cool water seemed to spread throughout Toris's body, soothing his throbbing head and releasing tension from all parts of his body. It was the sensation that a good massage gives, but magnified a thousand times. A smile touched his lips for that one moment of pure bliss.

When Toris opened his eyes, he realized that it was Feliks who had touched his forehead, causing the amazing sensation throughout his body. His headache had disappeared too, and his vision was clearer than it had ever been, as if his whole life he had seen only things through the mist. "How…" he trailed off in amazement.

Feliks smiled and jumped off of Toris's bed. "Let's just say that glowing swords that can cut bullets in half is much more complicated magic than simple tension relief, that the more tension you have, the better it feels and you've got the highest tension rate I've, like, ever felt."

"Thank you so much. I feel better than I have in years. Can you please explain to me what is going on now?"

"Do you really have to be, like, formal?"

"I'm not being formal. I can think clearer than I ever could."

"Fine, I'll, like, tell you and stuff." Feliks sat, well, more jumped and landed in a sitting position, onto the bed. "So there's this place called, like Hitherea," he began.

Toris cut in right there. "I already know a few things about Hitherea. I know that it is another magical world connected to ours. It's ruled by the King of Ages who is selected randomly in Earthlings, but the legend was burned long ago. It's just a legend, it can't be real though."

Feliks burst out into laughter. So hard that he fell off of the bed and onto the floor beside it, clutching his stomach. After his laughter died down, Feliks got back up onto the bed. "Oh wow, you actually think that the 'legend' can't be real when I litterally have a glowing sword. And also, I was the one who burned it. Didn't want the information getting out to Earth," he said.

What was really not understandable to Toris was why that was so particularly funny, but he decided that, considering that he really didn't understand Feliks anyway, he should just ignore it. Feliks's face suddenly turned half serious.

"You're the Prince of Ages," he stated, glaring Toris in the eye.

"What does that mean?" Toris questioned.

"You, like, might know this already, but the Prince of Ages is chosen out of all people from Earth, probably for some trait, and will become the next King of Ages and your heart will become bonded with the land of Hitherea. There's like this evil organization that wants to take over Hitherea and choose the king for themselves so they can rule and stuff. They've managed to, like, sever the bond with the old king so I needed to come and, like, get you before the organization can, like, replace the king and stuff. Also, without a king, Hitherea will like, die, so it's kind of urgent. Usually, it's fated that you'll find Hitherea yourself, but you were taking to long, so I sent to you in your dreams."

Toris nodded periodically throughout Feliks's rambling about Hitherea and the Prince of Ages. "And what would you have to do with this all?" he continued to ask.

"Oh, yeah, I'm this immortal spirit called a guardian assigned to protect princes and kings of ages when those annoying evil people assembled, and they haven't won yet, so, I win. Yeah!"

The information made Toris smile, considering he loved legends and now one of them was finally real. "Tell me more," he said.

Feliks somehow summoned a massive amount of papers out of nowhere and dumped them on the nearby desk, grabbed the remote for the small television, and turned it on. He switched to a fashion show, gesturing at Toris to read through the papers if he wanted more information. Toris read through the papers, enjoying learning more about the legend (or reality), while Feliks watched the show, marveling at how ridiculous fashion these days was. Apparently immortal spirits really like fashion or something, or maybe that's just Feliks, considering he _did _wear a pink, frilly, dress while defending them from some evil organization.

It was a sound night of sleep for Toris and after Feliks got bored of his show, he insisted that Toris leave the lights off so he could go to sleep. Toris wanted to object and stay up reading more about Hitherea, but he too, was tired. Feliks had wanted the only bed, but they had come to a compromise that Toris would sleep on the couch, and he was ok with that. It was pretty pleasant, and Toris had no strange dreams, at least until about 4 AM, when he woke to Feliks shaking him awake, an urgent tone in his voice.

"Toris, Toris, wake up. We need to get out of here," he whispered.

In his morning state, Toris couldn't think quite properly. "What about our job…" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

There was a slightly painful pounding on Toris's chest as Feliks banged his fist on Toris in a desperate attempt to get him up. "Alright, I'm up," Toris said, getting off of the couch. Feliks grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the hotel room.

"They've probably found us by now. My amazing logic tells me that they'll be expecting us to use the stairs like we did last time. To the elevator we go," said Feliks.

They went to the elevator, which, conveniently, was right on the floor they were on and the doors opened up immediately. Feliks dragged Toris through the doors into the elevator and pressed the button for ground floor.

To Toris's surprise, instead of letting his hand go, Feliks grabbed his other hand and they stood there for a second, Feliks just staring into Toris's eyes. Toris thought that it must have been some sort of magical testing or something that he had not read in the papers on Hitherea.

However, before Toris knew it, Feliks's lips were upon his own. Out of pure surprise, Toris blinked and jumped back. His face must have been bright red by now, and when he looked back at Feliks, who was also emitting an awkward aura. He jumped to the opposite side of the elevator, accidentally banging his head against the wall.

"Wh-why…?" Toris stuttered.

Feliks turned around, purposefully escaping Toris's view. "It's a thing in Hitherea where you'll know your soulmate when you first kiss them…" he muttered. There was an awkward pause and Toris realized that he was the one who should continue the conversation because he really couldn't stand the awkwardness.

"So… Am I?"

Feliks smiled back at him. "I'm not telling," he said. Toris sighed, as he should have expected such a reaction. The elevator doors opened, and together, they ran out, fleeing from their fate of being captured.

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN - I'm sorry that school is making it so hard to write because whenever I have time, I don't really feel like writing, and whenever I feel like writing , I don't have time. However, I will still try to post one chapter per week if I can. Reviews are very helpful and I would love it a lot if you would let me know how to improve my writing_**


	4. Chapter 4 - Ivan

Feliks and Toris were in the process of running away when they came across someone Toris never would have suspected to be evil, Ivan. Actually, Alfred had told him multiple times that Ivan was some sort of insane demon trying to take over the world, but Toris would never believe Alfred's strange theories like that considering he was the one who would freak out whenever someone said the word "ghost". He had no real reason to believe in Ivan's evilness other than your regular old "my boss is so evil" belief. Until now.

What was strange about the lobby as they walked in was that all regular people at the hotel had seemed to vanish from the lobby. Even during this nightly hour, there still should be someone at the reception desk, for the rules of the hotel stated so, but that was the least of Toris's concerns. His boss stood between them and the exit, and a purple glow sparked his eyes. "You're supposed to be doing your job, Toris," Ivan laughed evilly.

Feliks yelped and cowered behind Toris, who was significantly scared himself, but, had very little knowledge on how to fight; his only knowledge came from the notes that Feliks had given him. The notes had contained a small amount of information about magic types and the basic things that they could do. It wasn't enough to actually stand up to someone who seemed as powerful as Ivan. Besides, wasn't Feliks, his guardian, supposed to protect him, not cower behind him like a child.

"Aren't you supposed to protect me Feliks?" Toris whispered, attempting to not catch the attention of Ivan looming before them.

Feliks, who was shaking slightly, stepped out to Toris's side and said back "Fine, you use green magic by the way, which like does the self and mind stuff, and he does the purply surrounding magic." Feliks gestured towards Ivan. "I do the pinky energy boom magic."

Suddenly, Toris was flung to the other side of the room. He hit the wall, hard, and gasped for breath. Ignoring the pain in his body, he got up only to see that Ivan was holding Feliks up with a purple tentacle of energy by his neck and Feliks was desperately clawing at it while attempting to reach for his sword. "Feliks!" Toris cried out, only to receive a glance of despair. Could this be the end for Feliks?

Toris felt a pool of dread welling inside of him and it took all of his self control not to scream. Suddenly, an idea struck Toris. Feliks had told him that he used green magic, which the notes had said was a type of magic that was used by controlling one's self, then using the connection between all living beings to affect them. Maybe, if he just stayed calm…

There. There was the connection between him and Ivan. He sensed the way that the purple tentacle of energy was being put out and severed Ivan's magical bond.

When Toris opened his eyes, he felt very tired, almost like fainting and collapsed on the ground. However, Feliks was now free and he and Ivan were fighting in a seemingly evenly matched battle. It wasn't evenly matched though. With every pink bolt of energy that Feliks sent out of his sword, he seemed to become slightly more tired and his moves became more sloppy. Ivan easily sidestepped each one and showed no signs of weakening. Eventually Feliks collapsed too and Ivan came over him like a dark shadow. Toris wished that he could use his green magic again, but considering how much it had hindered him once, he thought that it must have been out of the question. He could hardly stand, yet alone fight, so there was nothing that he could really do.

Feliks gave one last smile to Toris before Ivan came over him. Suddenly, out of nowhere, someone came and punched Ivan in the face and he staggered back.

"Alfred the hero here to save the day," he exclaimed. Alfred was dressed in his normal, casual wear other than his hand, which was covered in a red fist that was glowing slightly.

Toris sighed in relief. He didn't have the time or energy to contemplate Alfred actually being a magic user himself. "Run now, while you still can," said Alfred while Feliks scurried over to Toris and helped him up. They ran out of the front hotel door and Toris glanced back at Alfred and Ivan fighting, but Feliks grabbed his shoulder and turned him back around to running to the car.

"There's like this mall five miles from here that we need to, like, go to," said Feliks as he toyed with Toris's GPS. Toris was too tired to question it.

* * *

><p>Alfred's fight with Ivan wasn't going very well. His magic worked best at a close range that he could never achieve because Ivan would always fling him back to the other side of the room. But, Alfred was persistent. He thought he saw a slight hint of tiredness in Ivan's eyes, but he must have been imagining it. There was no way that a being as powerful as Ivan would show weakness after such a short time of fighting.<p>

As Alfred rushed at Ivan to strike him yet again, the surroundings suddenly shifted around them and they were inside of the broom closet. The only light was Alfred's fist weapon that illuminated Ivan's face to make it seem even more evil than usual. "I thought we had an agreement, Alfred," Ivan said as Alfred jumped back to the edge of the wall.

"No, please no, just don't keep him in this mess," begged Alfred. Ivan waved his hand Alfred's brother, Matthew, appeared, bloody and bruised.

"He looks so close to dead. I bet one spark would kill him," Ivan taunted, snapping his fingers and creating a single spark of black energy.

"Al...fred," Matthew choked. "Help…"

Ivan smiled a cruel and devastating smile. "The deal was, you help me catch Toris, and I let your brother go."

Matthew sent a quick nod to Alfred, before he disappeared entirely. "You know that trick doesn't work on me, Matthew," Ivan said as he reached his arm out and grabbed Matthew, who was visible now, by the collar. He forced him down to the ground again as Matthew let out a grunt in pain.

"Fine," Alfred mumbled and wiped a tear out of his eye. "I'll help you catch that damned prince."

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN - I'm sorry if you don't like Ivan being the villain, but, since it is from Toris's point of view (except for the last part lol), it sort of is accurate to character. If you're worried about Ivan not being "human" and just plain villainous, this isn't one of those fics and he will have feelings (eventually). Please review and tell me what you liked and didn't like and how I could fix it and stuff like that. It'll help me improve my writing and I'd be very greatful_**


	5. Chapter 5 - The Betrayal

Because it was so early in the morning, the amount of cars on the street was very small. It was a fact that Toris could be greatful for, considering that it was rather hard to drive when there was a hyperactive spirit sitting right next to you and constantly jumping in your face.

"Come on Toris, please?" Feliks begged, unbuckling himself and crawling over from the passenger seat and Toris's lap.

Toris would have glared back at Feliks except that he needed to focus on the road. "No, I'm driving."

"After you, like, get done driving then?"

Toris blushed. "Maybe."

They reached the mall and got out of the car. "Okay, now can I have another kiss?" Feliks continued as he pulled on Toris's arm.

Toris glanced around at his surroundings. "No, not while we're in public," he whispered, "And be more quiet about it."

Feliks groaned and rolled his eyes. "Toris it's like 4:30 AM, no one is going to see us."

"Fine," Toris said, quickly pecking Feliks's cheek.

"You're no fun," Feliks grumbled. "Anyway, we need to break into the mall to get you a dress."

"What?!"

Feliks twirled his fingers around in some sort of strange method that Toris had no clue what it meant, what it did, or what it was supposed to do. "Wearing a dress in the color of your magic type makes you more powerful," he explained.

"Really?"

"No, but that's the Feliks rule."

"Then why are we going in?"

"I told you, to get you one sexy dress."

"Alright, whatever, _how _do we get in?" Toris gestured towards the security camera outside the door.

A pink beam shot from Feliks's hand and struck the security cameras, rendering them useless. "Pink magic beats tech," Feliks said before gesturing at the automatic doors to open and sneaking in. Although Toris was still weary of the security camera, he was soon to follow.

Something seemed to trigger in Feliks's head as soon as he walked through the doors of the mall. It was almost as if he seemed more natural and normal in here than Toris had seen him before. Well, they had only known each other for less than two days, but the point was still valid. Feliks danced around the mall, touching everything he thought would be interesting and occasionally pointing out a green dress to Toris (who kept on telling him that for the last time he wasn't getting a dress). Toris was still too tired to say anything about it to Feliks and just really wanted to get on with whatever they were doing. However, what he wasn't expecting was for Feliks to stop at one of those little maps that they had stationed about the mall and stare at it intensely for a while.

His staring was interrupted by a loud crash.

"Oh, so the security cameras are broken. It must have been you Feliks, wasn't it? You're the only pink magic user who has ever made it into this world, aren't you?"

It was Ivan's voice.

There was a table with a cloth over it where they would be impossible to see while coming down the mall like Ivan was. Toris tapped Feliks on the shoulder, and put a finger up to his mouth before rushing towards that corner. He turned around, expecting to see Feliks just behind him, but instead, he was right in the center of the hallway, exposed if Ivan were to come. But what was even more surprising to Toris was Feliks's next actions.

"Yeah, Ivan. You're right. It is me. You should, like, totally fight me," he yelled out towards where Ivan's voice was coming from. Ivan appeared before them.

"That is a good idea," he said. "But you know I don't have any more time for this kind of thing, so, I myself won't be fighting you." Toris dared a peak through the curtain.

Alfred.

Toris gasped. How could he betray his best friend like this? This wasn't the time for self pity. He needed to help, but how? Toris didn't know any magic, and he could barely stay awake, let alone attempt another spell or fight.

Alfred was a good fighter. He had strong sweeping blows and his power would be tremendous. If it hit. Feliks was more nimble though, and dodged all of his attacks. He could tell that Feliks was only trying to buy time, not actually injure Alfred.

Suddenly, Ivan appeared out of no where right in front of Toris, causing him to jump back in fear and start to tremble slightly. "You think you can hide from the master of space, Prince," he spat.

_Come, on Feliks…_

"Pathetic, you're no more than a scared puppy and I can't wait to crush your skull."

Ivan grabbed Toris by the collar and dragged him out of his hiding spot and towards the map that Feliks had been staring at earlier. So there was something odd about it.

"Feliks!" Toris called out, but it's rather hard for one to yell while being dragged by the collar. Feliks heard though, and Toris thought he heard a brief 'yeah'.

Ivan waved his hand around with some sort of purple energy and the map began to glow, creating a swirling mass of purple energy in a sort of portal.

There was a pink flash near Toris's face, his neck stung slightly, and the world was suddenly dark.

* * *

><p>When he awoke, Toris was on a bright red hill with grass that shined like diamonds and swayed in the breeze. The sky was a deep purple color and the sun rose spreading silvery light across the nearby terrain. The air smelled of vanilla and the breeze felt cool against Toris's skin. A forest lay in near Toris and Feliks, the deep blue leaves shifting gently. Birds with bright orange feathers chirped excitedly as they danced across the sky. Feliks stood gazing out at the forest thoughtfully.<p>

No, this couldn't be reality. It was only a dream.

Toris stared in awe at the beautiful landscape. "Wh-where am I?"

Feliks turned around. "Welcome to Hitherea."

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN - I'm sorry the past few chapters have been a bit short but the next one one will be really long. Also, just take note of the reason that Toris isn't explaining the fights in greater detail is he doesn't really know anything about magic and how it works yet. Also, I don't think that Toris would watch many action movies or movies in general. He's more of a book person. Also, if you haven't noticed already, I'll try to post one chapter every weekend._**


	6. Chapter 6 - Hitherea's Legend

Hitherea really was a magical place, and as Toris and Feliks walked, down towards the forest, it really was a great feeling for Toris to look around at the beautiful landscape. Maybe it was because there was a different aura here than Earth, or maybe it was finally reaching their goal, but Toris felt extremely lighthearted in happy right now. He almost felt so happy as to join Feliks in his skipping. Maybe this giddy feeling was responsible for his actions.

"Hey, Feliks," Toris said. The spirit looked up at him. "I know we've only known eachother for two days, but I'm really glad I met you."

Feliks giggled. "Oooh that was so romantic, Toris. I love romantic things."

Toris's face turned bright red. "F-fine, just kiss me then," he stuttered."

Feliks, did in fact kiss Toris, his soft lips pressing against his own felt... amazing. Feliks's arms wrapped around the back of his neck.

Once the kiss was over, they stayed in that position for a few seconds, just enjoying the moment while staring into each other's eyes. Well, until Feliks got bored and jumped off of Toris. They continued walking.

"Oh, Feliks, I just remembered, you said I might be your soulmate," Toris began.

"Yeah, I totally did."

"So… Am I?"

Feliks giggled. "OMG I like totally fooled you. There's no such thing as a soulmate haha."

Toris put his hand on his forehead. Feliks could be a bit much. "Then why did you say that?"

"I just wanted an excuse to kiss you," Feliks continued, shy this time and with a small voice, his face hidden.

"Oh, okay. I guess I enjoyed it, anyway..."

"But it is said that the first ever green and pink magicians loved each other dearly, so maybe it is fated. I was around back then, but I didn't know them personally."

"Can you tell me more about the legends-" Toris paused. "I suppose I should say history of Hitherea?"

"Actually, that's where I'm taking you. We're going to see, like, this old friend of mine."

It turned out that Feliks's 'old friend' actually lived in a old temple worn by nature. It was quite an impressive sight, though, an ancient structure still standing tall and proud in the middle of a forest. Feliks opened the door, and it creaked as he angrily swore at some cobwebs and the order of something or other for not keeping the temple well kept. The inside was even more beautiful than the outside as a long hall with oriental paintings worn by time and glass windows stretched over the walls. Toris could see a story was being told of two forces, good and evil at war. The dust and aging of the designs prevented him from understanding much more.

Feliks dashed to the end of the hall, each of his footsteps ringing out and echoing throughout the building. "Yao, Yao, I brought the prince," he called out.

"Wait for me, Feliks," panted Toris as he ran down the hall. It seemed quite long, especially considering the only rest he had gotten was being knocked out. Feliks placed his hand on what appeared to be a glass orb, and the building lit up, forcing Toris to close his eyes in the blinding light. When he opened them, there was a giant transparent ghost like figure standing standing in front of Feliks at the end. It was a man with golden eyes and dark brown hair tied up in a ponytail that hung over his shoulder.

"Toris," Feliks began, "This is my bestie, Yao and he's totally gonna teach you about Hitherean lore."

Toris had finally caught up with Feliks at the end and was right next to the giant spirit, allegedly named Yao. "Yes, and he appears to be a giant floating spirit with a ponytail."

Yao glared at Toris for a few seconds before pointing a ghostly finger inches from Toris's nose. "Hey, don't make fun of my appearance. I did not choose look this way," said Yao.

"Guys, don't fight," said Feliks. "I, like, took him to you so he could find out about what it, like, totally means to be a King of Ages. Tell him the whole story."

"Fine, it was long time ago, four and half thousand years to be precise…"

* * *

><p>"The story starts at my birth. I was born royal, the son of the king, into an era of peace. There were two major powers in the world at that time in Hitherea. There was the Light Kingdom, the one which I was heir to the throne of, and there was the Shadow Kingdom, which we were currently at peace with. The major difference between the two kingdoms was that the magic users and warriors of the Light Kingdom used white magic, magic of life and living, while in the Shadow Kingdom, they used black magic, magic of death and the dead. These were the only two magics that humans could use at the time, although creatures and monsters have always been able to use elemental magic. The Light Kingdom was thriving at the moment. Food and resources was plentiful and the poor were few. As long as written history had been around, there was never a war, just a separation. The two kingdoms lived apart from each other, like two neighbors who never dared speak to each other. Of course there were rumors about the Shadow Kingdom and how everyone who lived there was evil at heart, and I believed those rumors as a young child, but paid no real mind to them.<p>

When I was twelve and I could finally leave the royal city, the first place I wanted to go was the Shadow Kingdom, out of pure curiosity. My father reluctantly agreed to take me there, and I found that rumors were false. The people of the Shadow Kingdom were no different from the people of the Light Kingdom at heart, and they were not truly different from us. What I did not see, because of my royalty, was that the Shadow Kingdom was going through a rough time right then, as a disease was wiping out the crops.

I was trained in the art of white magic, just like all royalty was, and I excelled. They said I was probably the best in the land by only age sixteen, even better than the best masters. I kept training to become better. I forgot about the Shadow Kingdom. They were not important to me.

By the age of twenty, a messenger arrived, stating that the Shadow King had died and his son had taken the throne. The son's name was Ivan," (Toris gasped Ivan's name but quickly silenced with a shush from Feliks and an angry glare from Yao) "The new Shadow King. This meant nothing to me.

But a year later, my father passed away from a deadly illness that even the best of healers could not heal. I took his place as king, and I ruled in a kind manner. I did my best, even if my reign was not perfect, I had in mind what was best for my citizens.

Five years went on and nothing particular had happened, until Ivan declared war upon the Light Kingdom. Everything changed then. I was the ruler of the army and I fought in battle alongside my forces using my light powers. The war caused outbreaks of famine and sickness in my kingdom. After four more years, I knew I had to end it, so I went to the shadow palace to face off Ivan, the ruthless leader, and kill him, once and for all. My infiltration was a success, however, what I did not expect was for Ivan to have extreme power in black magic just as I did in white magic. We were evenly matched, and it came to a tie in the end; my soldiers and I barely got out alive.

Forty long years passed and both kingdoms were wounded, barely alive and unlike the great beasts that once stood. Over half of all of my citizens had been killed in the war, and I thought the same must have happened to the Shadow Kingdom. Those who still lived were poor, their money being fed to the war. I hated the destruction. All I wanted was the era of peace back, so I, as the greatest white magician of all time, began to work on a project named 'Earth'. It would wipe out the Shadow Kingdom once and for all, but that was the only way to stop the war that I could think of, for being at war for so long had tainted the minds of my people and the people of the Shadow Kingdom, and reasoning was not an option. I didn't want to, but I had no other choice to bring prosperity back to my people.

Earth took ten years to complete, but in order to activate it, everyone would have to give up white magic forever. What it did was it would split apart white magic into many different lights, just like a rainbow, and new magics would replace the old ones. Earth would defeat the shadow nation with the surprise of new magic as opposed to white magic. The project would create a new world without magic existing alongside Hitherea, but with people there too. A king would be chosen randomly to rule from the people of Earth every time a new king would be needed, one who would be granted the power of white magic and whatever magic type they were destined to be if they lived in Hitherea. Also, whenever an Earthling wandered into Hitherea, they would be assigned a magic type, able to be used in Earth, but not in front on non-magic users. The king, which I named 'King of Ages' would have an immortal spirit named The Guardian who I created, Feliks, guide them to Hitherea and show them a teacher of the magic that they use. The King of Ages would be bonded with white magic to the land to insure that all types of magic continue to exist and that my magic would continue to be fuelled. As for my spirit, I would be trapped in this temple that you stand in until that orb is destroyed.

Reluctantly, and with much thought, I activated Earth and it worked perfectly. I defeated the Shadow Kingdom within weeks and the era of peace was anew. However, not all black magic users were gone. Ivan had somehow managed to use Earth to make himself immortal, and he wants to sever the bond between the King of Ages and Hitherea. The Guardian has managed, with a lot of luck ("It was not luck it was skill," Feliks burst out), fine, skill, to prevent that from happening for this long, yet Ivan still lives. He had somehow acquired purple, the magic of surrounding, and is extremely powerful with it, while still keeping his original black magic.

You, Toris, must master green magic, make your way to the capital city, and claim yourself as king. You must, at all costs, prevent Ivan from severing your bond. The results could be catastrophic. Also, if you can, capture Ivan so he can do no more harm to others.

* * *

><p>"...And that my story, any questions?"<p>

Toris put down his notepad clapped. "That was amazing, Yao."

Feliks snatched up Toris's notepad. "You took notes?"

"Well, yeah, I didn't want to forget-" Feliks threw it onto the ground. "Hey!"

"No notes for an Earthling. It might slip and you might tell all of Earth and that would be totally bad," he said.

"Fine."

Yao spoke up. "So are you going to do duty to Hitherea or not?"

Toris put his hand on his heart. "I promise I am loyal to you, Yao, and will do whatever it takes to stop Ivan."

Yao and Feliks both laughed and Feliks placed his hand on Toris's shoulder. "You're, like, way too serious Toris. Lighten up for once."

Toris smiled. "Sure, I guess."

Feliks jumped around towards the exit. "Anyway, we have a green magic master to find. Bye, Yao."

"Goodbye, you two."

Toris waved back at the spirit and walked with Feliks out the door.

* * *

><p>The sun was beginning to set and the sky turned red. Feliks picked some fruits from a tree for him and Toris to eat. They were the most delicious things Toris had ever eaten, the way the sour and sweet juices swirled together on his tongue… Or maybe he was just hungry<p>

"We should… set up camp for the night," Toris said.

"Yeah, let me materialize some sleeping bags out of no where so we can, like, sleep easier. Whatever, the ground is soft enough, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Anyway, it get's like, really cold here at night. We need to, you know, keep each other warm."

Toris agreed and cuddled up to the spirit. It wasn't really that cold, but Toris still enjoyed feeling the warmth coming off of Feliks's body.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN - Ugh, I've been snowed in and there's been no school (yay more in summer), so I've had nothing much to do, so I thought, "why not wright?" so that's why this chapter's early. Also, it's super long as promised. Please review if you can. Enjoy! Oh, and BTW the next like 3 chapters are going to be a feels ride so I hope you're prepared**_


	7. Chapter 7 - The Color of Blood

Feliks plopped himself down onto the grass colored red like blood. At first the grass had seemed odd to Toris, but after a day of walking in it after they had gotten out of the forest, he had gotten used to it. A harsh wind whipped through the air and Feliks found himself shivering slightly. Toris sat down next to him. "So Feliks, what do we do now?"

It was only now that Toris realized that the dress he had been wearing earlier was gone, and replaced by a simple blue t-shirt and khaki pants. He must have changed sometime since they had entered Hitherea. "There's, like, this village about an hours walk away over there." Feliks pointed in the direction they had been traveling. "We can, like, get supplies and food and all that stuff. I'm famished."

"Now that you mention it, we haven't eaten since the hotel… Can't you use magic or to get us over there?"

"Nah, purple magic's the only magic that can do spacey transportation stuff, but, there might be someone in the village who can help us."

"And where do we go then?"

"Well, I, like, know this green magician who's, like, super talented and stuff and we need to get to his hut so he can teach you. But, like, there's this giant chasm in between us and the easiest way to get across it is to use purple magic, but the only one most powerful to do that is Ivan. Maybe if you could be a purple magian, I've had some purple kings, anyway, the only way around other than that is to go through the mountains and that's like super dangerous and-"

"Stop!" Toris interrupted. "Just tell me how we're going to get across the chasm."

Feliks sighed. "There's a portal near it, we travel to the portal, go to Earth, and go back with another portal in Earth."

Toris placed his hands on the spirit's shoulders. "Okay, and how long will that take?" he asked.

"About two weeks of walking towards the portal and the rest depends on Earth methods of travel…"

Toris jumped up in surprise. "But I told Alfred that I would be back in… Oh, right…" he trailed off."

Toris held out his hand for Feliks to take. "Anyway, we aren't going to get anywhere by sitting around, are we?"

"No, we really aren't."

"And, here's the portal."

"Finally…"

"I can't believe we walked for so long. I'm, like, totally tired."

"Do you want to set up camp for today and go through tomorrow?"

"Totally."

Toris opened up the backpack that he had gotten at the village and took out his sleeping bag, seeing that Feliks had done the same thing. "Goodnight, Feliks."

"Mph."

* * *

><p>It was an interesting experience for Toris to be waking up to Feliks jumping up and down on him. "Come on Toris, wake up, wake up, wake up," he chanted, while, quite literally jumping on Toris.<p>

"Go away. On Earth it would still be about 5 AM and that's no time for someone to get up."

"No! We need to go now!" Feliks huffed like a little kid.

Toris crawled out of his sleeping bag and lazily shoved it back into his backpack. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. "Fine, I'm up. Why do you insist on getting me up so early anyway?"

Feliks suddenly turned away from Toris. He seemed unusually quiet for right now. "I was only created to protect the kings and princes of Ages," he whispered, an unusual solemn tone to his voice. "I feel satisfaction when I do my duty, and that's all I ever really feel. I guess I'll never have real emotions…"

Toris jumped back quickly from Feliks, surprised to ever see him this serious considering his usual playful attitude towards things. Feliks snapped out of his serious state and immediately gave Toris his bright smile that he usually wore. "I'm sorry. I really, like, shouldn't tell you that, please don't treat me differently."

"Alright, if that's what you really want." The first thing that came to Toris's mind was the times that they had kissed. Was he the only one who actually felt anything between them? Had it been a lie? Toris's heart sank, but he had more important things to think about than some petty romantic matters. "Anyway, I see that it's a giant and amazing amethyst crystal, but how does it turn into a portal?"

The lavender crystal began to glow as Feliks placed his hand on it and turned into a swirling purple mass just like the one on Earth. "Touch of the guardian. Always works." They jumped through the portal together.

Being in between the worlds conscious was very awful for Toris. He felt weightless and a purple glow came through his eyesight. Suddenly, he couldn't feel his hands, or legs, and the numb feeling spread up through his body towards his head. Toris screamed out in panic for help, but nothing came out. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Toris and Feliks reached the end of the portal. Toris had fallen face first into the some dirt, but when he looked up, he saw that Feliks had landed perfectly on his feet.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Toris groaned.

"You'll get used to it."

Feliks offered out a hand which Toris gladly took to prevent the world from spinning around, but his stomach didn't get any better.

Toris's stomach only got worse when he saw Feliks pulled him behind a conveniently placed tree and put his finger to Toris's lips and gestured past the tree. _It's Ivan,_ he mouthed, _and I think I saw Alfred here too. _But it was too late.

The ground seemed to disappear beneath Toris, making him feel even worse, considering he still hadn't recovered from the portal. Toris realized that it wasn't the ground that disappeared beneath him, but that he was levitating slightly. Feliks waved his hand and suddenly, he and Toris were free. Toris still hadn't observed their surroundings, but Feliks dragged him all different ways in a supposed attempt to escape Ivan. The area shifted around them, and Toris's vision blurred as he fought for consciousness, and the only thing he could do was close his eyes and push his head into the ground.

"Trying to run and hide from a purple magician is not a good idea."

Ivan.

Toris could look up now, and while he still couldn't make out their surroundings, he could see a blurred image of Ivan with some sort of black lightning coming out of his hand. "I'm not playing around this time, okay? I will kill you now, guardian."

Kill? But wasn't Feliks supposed to be immortal? A fleeting thought of Feliks telling him that Alfred was here too crossed Toris's mind, but he quickly forgot. Feliks didn't say anything as he ran towards Ivan in some sort of rage, firing pink beams out of his hand as he summoned his sword and changed his clothes into the combat. Ivan dodged each beam with ease, but before Ivan could strike back or Feliks could continue his onslaught of attacks, the black lightning curved around him like a snake and fired straight at Toris.

There was a red flash, and out of nowhere, Alfred appeared right in front of Toris. "Alfred!" Toris cried out to his friend. He was in the way of the black energy. It was going to hit him. Alfred gave one last smile to Toris, one of pure happiness, but also sorrow, before the energy struck him right in the center of the chest. It was too sudden for tears. "It's going to hit you…" Toris choked, before his friend crumpled to the ground, a glassy look in those once bright blue eyes like a burning bright fire that had been extinguished in a mere moment. Alfred had been alive and breathing just a few seconds ago, but how his body was not moving, liveless.

Dead.

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN - I think Feliks would look totally sexy in that outfit, right? Also, I gave the chapters titles because I got bored and changed the rating to T because the next few chapters might get a little violent and... You get the point. 2 more chapters of feels btw_**


	8. Chapter 8 - Reasons

_**A/N - Well, this chapter is from younger Alfred's point of view (Because it couldn't be from older Alfred's point of view lol) because I want him to have a backstory. Actually I just wanted to give you feels, but yeah, please review if you read.**_

* * *

><p>-Younger Alfred's point of view-<p>

Thunder crashed outside Alfred's room and the storm raged on outside the safety of his house. He buried his face into his pillow to catch the tears coming from his eyes. Alfred stood up and wandered into his mother's room, slowly opening the door.

"Mommy, I'm scared," he squeaked as yet another crash of thunder came from outside.

Alfred's mother stood up and walked over to Alfred. "It's okay, Alfred." She took her son's hand and walked back into the hallway. "You need to sleep well for your first day of kindergarten tomorrow."

"But I don't wanna go to school. I wanna stay here with you."

"It's alright, Alfred. I'll sing you to sleep."

Alfred slowly drifted off to sleep by the soft melody of his mother's voice.

* * *

><p>The first day of school had not been as bad as Alfred had imagined. After being introduced to their teacher and playing name games. Alfred had never been good at remembering names though, and even though he tried to remember, it was hard for him. Now it was recess, and Alfred was sulking in the corner because all of the others had seemed to form into friend groups except him.<p>

Except one other kid sitting at the edge of the playground across from him, attempting to make a tower out of some magnets he had found, Alfred was alone. The tower was falling down. Alfred charged towards the tower and rushed to keep it up. "I'm the hewo!" he exclaimed as he attempted to save the tower from destruction.

The kid smiled, but Alfred lost his balance and fell over, taking the tower with him, giggling all the while. The kid smiled. "Hey, I'm Toris, remember me, Alfred?"

Alfred searched his memory, trying to remember Toris. "Nope!"

"That's okay, because I remember you. Do you want to be friends?"

"Of course I wanna be your friend. Can I hug you now that we're friends?"

"Alright."

* * *

><p>It had been about eleven months since Alfred's parents divorced and his first year of middle school wasn't going well. He was failing almost all of his classes, and despite what Toris, his best friend told him, he just didn't care. Maybe it was because of the constant neglectance that his father gave him, or maybe it was the absence of his brother, Matthew, who was with his mother, but Alfred just couldn't focus.<p>

He came home one day and expected his father to be in his room, working as usual, but it was an unpleasant surprise to find him on the couch of the living room with a sad glint in his eyes. "Alfred," he began, "Matthew is coming over to visit tomorrow."

Alfred pumped his fist in excitement. "Sweet! It's been way too long." His enthusiasm quickly ended as he saw his father wipe a tear from his eye. "Wait, then why are you crying, Dad?"

"I'm sorry, Alfred."

"What?"

"Your mother… she had a heart attack."

Alfred's eyes widened with worry. "I-is she alright?" he stammered.

"She passed away, I'm so, so sorry, Alfred."

Alfred's mother had been buried in the town where Alfred lived, in honor of her growing up and living her life there.

The gravestone felt cool to the touch beneath Alfred's fingers. Alfred gave a surprised jump as he felt Matthew's hand upon his shoulder. He wasn't used to having his brother around.

"Lets go, Alfred."

"No!" Alfred cried in a sudden outburst at his brother. "I don't want to leave."

Matthew's face was wet with tears from their mother's loss. "We have to go sometime…"

"But I don't want to." Alfred stared back at the gravestone, but there was a purple spark where his hand touched it, and he didn't feel the cool gravestone beneath his hand this time. "Did you see that?"

"No?"

Alfred stuck his hand towards the stone and it disappeared completely. He shrugged, before diving into the stone, his body not existing in Earth anymore. Matthew was soon to follow, mostly because he considered it his job to keep Alfred from doing any insane things, but also partially he wanted to see what was going on with this portal that had appeared.

Alfred found himself in a forest with leaves as white as snow and birds flashing rainbow colors flying by. A tiny creature that looked like a dragonfly at first whized up to Alfred's face, two inches from his nose, when he saw that it was a tiny fairy instead. "Woah," he gasped and glanced back where he had came from which was a purple, swirling, portal. And Matthew, his face almost green, clutching his stomach curled up on the ground.

"Blargh," Matthew moaned.

Alfred grabbed Matthew and yanked him up, pointing up at the purple sky and the trees with white leaves. "Look, Matthew. We're in a fantasy world," he chimed.

Matthew glanced up to see it all. "Th-that's great, Alfred. I'm going to go throw up behind that tree."

Matthew disappeared for a few seconds behind the tree that he indicated. "Much better," he stated upon return, before staring in awe at the surrounding scenery.

Alfred grabbed Matthew's hand and pulled him through the forest, weaving around the trees. "We're going exploring!" he chanted.

After running for a few minutes, Alfred and Matthew came across an old hut in the woods. Alfred boldly strode up to it and banged on the door, shivering with excitement. The door opened up to a boy who looked to be about five or six years older than them. He had sandy, slightly messy hair and bright green eyes. His eyebrows were quite large, too. His expression was confused and slightly annoyed at the two kids before him. He wore a green tunic faded to brown that reached just above his knees. "You two aren't from around here, are you?"

Alfred grabbed Matthew and shaked his shoulders. "It's a fantasy guy from this fantasy world Matthew isn't this so cool?" he shrieked.

The boy gasped. "Are you two from… Earth, by any chance?"

Alfred beamed. "Yep! I'm Alfred, and this is my brother Matthew. Say hello Matthew."

Matthew uttered a quick "Hi."

"Master, they're from Earth!" Arthur called back into the hut.

A voice boomed from inside the hut. "What, now?"

"Two kids, from Earth!"

An old man with a long, white, beard reaching down just below his neck appeared beside the boy in the doorway. "I'm Arthur, by the way. And this is… Well… You can just call him Master Green."

Arthur looked Alfred in the eye with a small smile on his lips, an attempt to be friendly. "Now, Alfred, tell me exactly how you got here."

Alfred looked away from Arthur and a tear rolled down his face as he remembered how his mother was gone. Matthew glanced down at his feet, too. "We- well, our mother passed away and we were mourning her death at her grave…" He sighed sadly. "And Alfred touched it and his hand went through and he jumped in and I jumped in after him and here we are…"

"It seems like a stray portal," Arthur said to Master Green.

Master Green laughed. "It's nothing we need to worry about, my boy. We should let them in like family. It seems that they need one, considering their loss."

"Yes, Master, that does sound like a good idea. Why don't you two stay for dinner?"

* * *

><p>Alfred's grades had been awful in high school, considering he had been visiting Arthur and the Green Master every night and had not gotten much sleep.<p>

He slumped into the chair at lunch as Toris sat down beside him. "Are you tired, Alfred?" he asked.

"When am I not," Alfred moaned before sloppily shoving his lunch into his mouth.

After school, Alfred jumped through the portal with Matthew and arrived at Arthur's hut, only to find Arthur on the floor sobbing next to what looked to be the body of the Green Master. He looked up at Alfred with tears in his eyes. "He's gone, Alfred, he's gone," he cried.

Matthew spoke up. "Wh-what happened?" he asked.

"The Green Master, he's dead. I woke up today and his body was lying on the floor before me, dead."

Alfred placed his hand on Arthur's back. "It's alright, Arthur. We'll help you bury him."

Arthur nodded as Alfred's arms glowed red with his magical energy that he had taught himself to use. He picked up the old man's body with ease and placed him down on the floor. The three of them dug the grave with shovels, a grim expression on their faces to fit the haunting silence. Alfred kicked his body into it and they shoveled the dirt back up.

"He was a good man," Arthur began. "Took me in as his apprentice when I was four wandering through the woods alone. May King Yao bless his soul." There was a brief silence before Arthur spoke again. "I do have good news, though."

"What is it?"

"The prophet announced the new Prince of Ages, but since the Guardian is still busy with the current king, the prince is still on Earth, and I figured you two might know him." Arthur reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled sheet of paper, and opened it up to reveal Toris's face. "This is the new prince."

Alfred gasped and glanced at Matthew who exclaimed "That's Alfred's best friend, Toris!"

"Well then I need you to protect him until the guardian can travel to Earth and bring him to Hitherea."

"Got it!"

* * *

><p>The first time that Alfred saw Ivan was one night while Toris was out for his job and Matthew was staying. Matthew and Alfred shared a bed that night, but Alfred couldn't sleep and spent the night staring out the window when he saw a purple flash and a figure was approaching their house. Alfred snuck downstairs and opened the door, knowing exactly what he had to do.<p>

"Give me the Prince of Ages," Ivan had said.

"Not happening. He's not even here, dude. You did a sucky job tracking him down."

"Oh well. I'll come back eventually." Light flashed and Matthew was suddenly in Ivan's arms, his peaceful sleeping expression changed.

"L-let me go!" Matthew screamed, but Ivan clamped a hand over his mouth.

"I'll come back later, and you better help me, unless you want your brother to die."

* * *

><p>The decision Alfred made in the end was fast, but he knew he would do it any day, give his own life for a friend's. But Toris wasn't just any friend. He was the key to saving everyone in Hitherea, but especially Arthur, who he loved like family. There was a chance that Ivan would release Matthew, a small chance, but still a chance. And in the last second of his life, Alfred knew that he wanted nothing more than for them to be happy.<p> 


	9. Chapter 9 - Snapped

There were no tears at first in Toris's eyes. There was only disbelief that Alfred would do such a thing. But the realization hit him like a wave against a cliff. Alfred was gone. His smiling face would never light up Toris's afternoon after a long day of work. They would never do anything together ever again.

Feliks was surprised too, staring at Toris's broken expression before half-heartedly attacking Ivan, who shrugged him off in an instant, but Toris saw none of it, as he was staring in shock at the body of his friend. Barely able to breath, yet alone move,Toris crawled over to the body of his friend. Tears falling from his face created tiny pools in the dirt around him. He cradled his unmoving head in his arms with his face that had the still half-smile on it. No. Alfred's face no longer smiled. It must have been an illusion of how he had always remembered Alfred's bright face. Reaching up to his eyelids Toris laid a shaking finger on them before softly pulling them shut.

Of course, this was just the perfect time for Ivan to attack, and he did so, sending yet another bolt of black lightning straight at Toris, but in that moment, something triggered inside of him. It was something to do with the immense amount of emotion boiling through Toris's blood, and suddenly there was calm inside of him. He had only one objective now.

Stopping, and killing, Ivan.

A white burst of energy fired from Toris's hand and the black lightning disappeared without a trace. A look of horror hit Ivan's face and even Feliks stared back in surprise.

Toris felt his body lifting above the ground as the immense power flowed through him. He levitated there and stared at Ivan with a face of rage. The power was completely under his control, yet wild and free, so much of it at his command. "White magic," Feliks whispered to himself. "He can actually use it."

"You," Toris bellowed at Ivan, the power flowing through his veins even making his voice more powerful. "You were the one who killed Alfred."

Toris balled his fist and allowed his sadness to grow and only more hotness of the magic burned in his veins. He channeled his burning rage straight at Ivan, who blocked it barely with his black energy. The tables had turned. Toris continued out of rage and tears fell as Ivan desperately blocked each of his shots. But, not even Ivan could block every bit of Toris's immense power. The glowing white energy struck him in the face, but Toris didn't stop. More and more battered Ivan, until he was on the ground unconscious, and Toris hovered just a few feet above him, his arm outstretched to fire one final blow, the killing stroke. Yes, Toris would kill Ivan, as revenge for his friend.

The power tingled on the edge of his wrist and arm as he gathered more and more, but nothing happened. He couldn't do it. After watching his friend die, Toris simply couldn't take another human life, or whatever Ivan was. He just couldn't.

Toris felt the power being drained from his body as his utter goal was gone, and without the goal, the power had no use. He landed upon the ground with a soft thud.

"I-I can't kill him."

Feliks rushed over to Toris's side, who collapsed upon his knees, a sick feeling spreading to his stomach. "I can't kill him!" Toris cried as more tears fell down his face.

Feliks placed his hand on Toris's back. "Toris, it's alright-"

"No, it isn't!" Toris screamed, lashing out at Feliks, not with any sort of magic, but with his own elbow. Feliks staggered back a few steps, surprised at Toris's sudden outburst and at his strength. He stood up and faced Feliks, looking him straight in the eyes. "Do you have any idea how much Alfred meant to me?! Do you even know the feeling of loss and how much it pains me that such a monster that took away my best friend still exists!?"

"But, Toris I..."

"Don't you dare 'but' me. How can you tell me how to feel with your emotionless bullshit of a character." Toris stopped for a second, looking down at his feet uncomfortably. "I lived an alright and average like with Alfred, my best friend and pretty much the only person I really cared about anymore. Suddenly, you come barging in and take away all of that. My boss turns out to be an evil psychopath, my world turns out to be a lie and an illusion, and now my best friend is fucking dead. I've known you for only weeks, and yet you seem to think that we have some sort of strong emotional bond like Alfred and I had. It all started with those idiotic dreams of yours. Everything is your fault. Without you I could go on living my regular everyday life, and although it may not have been perfect, it's a hell of a lot better than this right now."

Feliks was on the verge of tears. Even without supposed emotions, something seemed to pick at his heart at each word that Toris spew out at him.

"You know what, Feliks?" Toris continued. Feliks's head snapped up at the sound of his name. "I hate you!"

These were the words that pierced through Feliks's heart the most and an unbearable pain surged through him. It wasn't a physical pain, which was all he had known, but an emotional pain, a new sensation.

Toris stormed off, grumbling to himself about how he would find out where they were and make his way home.

Feliks let the tears trapped in his eyes loose. "But I love you," he whispered, his heart sinking deeper and deeper.

"I love you..."

Feliks stood there for what seemed like a long time, but the seconds passed by like hours until he heard a small voice beside him. "Hey..." It said as Feliks turned around to face it.

It was a boy laying on the ground who looked almost exactly like Alfred, except for longer, silkier, hair, a long curl coming off the top of his head, and a softer, rounder appearance. He was covered in bruises and cuts yet a smile was still on his lips.

"Who are you?" Feliks asked.

The boy stood up but winced from the pain as he did so. "I'm Matthew, Alfred's twin brother." He explained. "You've... Probably heard of him somehow."

Feliks shifted his feet nervously and looked away from Matthew. "Yeah... I've, like, heard of him."

"Oh! I know you! You're the Guardian, aren't you?"

"Yep. That's me."

"Well, Ivan had captured me and was using me to control Alfred. I'm sorry, then I guess. My weakness is the reason you had to fight Alfred in addition to Ivan."

"No. Ivan is a powerful opponent. Even I struggle to beat him and would barely succeed."

"Wait… Do you have any idea where we are?" They appeared to be on the side of some road with a light forest on the edge. Feliks glanced at the forest, knowing exactly whose body it contained. Feliks didn't know whether he should tell Matthew about his dead brother or not. Well, they said ignorance was bliss and maybe he could get the story of how two Earthlings obtained magical power.

"Not particularly, but how did you, like, get the magical power and stuff?"

"Alfred found a portal to Hitherea and jumped through it and we've been going there every night. There isn't really much more to it…"

Feliks sighed. He had to show Matthew. He couldn't stay ignorant forever. "Matthew, I have something to show you. Follow me."

Matthew followed Feliks into the area where his dead brother lay. Matthew gasped and shook the corpse's shoulder. "Alfred? Alfred!? Can you hear me?"

Feliks shook his head. "No, Matthew, he can't hear you. He's dead. See? Look at the wound on his chest."

Matthew stared in horror at his brother's wound, a burnt hole in his chest, his insides charred and probably not even recognizable because of it. "No…"

Matthew stood up and ran to a nearby tree, banging his head against it a single time. "This is all my fault. It's my fault for letting Ivan catch me. It's my fault for not stopping Alfred before it was too late. Alfred's reckless. I knew this would happen."

"No Matthew, it's not. Alfred gave himself up protecting Hitherea. I mean, he was protecting Toris, the Prince of Ages. It was his decision. And now, look at Ivan." Matthew glanced at Ivan's battered body, and his tensed muscles relaxed. "I mean, that's gonna take a while to recover from."

"I suppose you're right, but where has Toris gone?"

"I dunno. Stormed off somewhere, probably going to his house even though he has no clue where we are."

"Then why don't we follow him?"

* * *

><p>"Heyo, Toris."<p>

Toris bolted upright out of his bed, accidentally smashing his forehead against Feliks's nose. Feliks jumped back a bit, rubbing his nose, before Toris covered himself back up. "Go away, Feliks," he whined from under the covers.

Feliks skipped downstairs back to Matthew. "No luck," said Feliks, before plopping himself down onto one of Toris's dining room chairs. "We might have to wait until morning."

Morning did come and Toris came downstairs only to find Feliks asleep on one of his chairs. "Feliks, didn't I tell you to leave in that dream last night?"

"That wasn't a dream. That was real. And we need to talk."

Toris sighed and pressed his hand up to his face. "Alright, Feliks. Do you want me to pour you some coffee?" Feliks shrugged.

"Look, Feliks, I'm sorry about what I said earlier," he said as he made the coffee. "I don't hate you. I've thought about it since the heat of the moment, and I realized some of the things I said were quite absurd." Feliks stared at Toris with his best puppy eyes. "I don't like you, though, Feliks." Feliks then looked away, annoyed. Toris sat down and poured himself and Feliks a little bit of coffee and began sipping it. Feliks just stared at the strange liquid because they did not have that substance in Hitherea. "Now continue with whatever you were about to say."

"Well, you see, as the current king, Eduard said, 'Magic is not like a stone, it is like metal. If it is bent with enough power or emotion, it will not break, but bend. However, if it is bent too hard with too much force, it will indeed break.' I'm pretty sure that's the quote."

Toris raised and eyebrow. "Your point being?"

"You know how I sort of don't have any emotions other than protecting Hitherea?"

"Yes?"

Feliks gulped. "I think I've bent the magic that I was based upon. You know since you're prince and stuff and you're directly related to Hitherea… I've bent my magic slightly… to feel emotions towards you."

"Alright?"

"Toris," Feliks exclaimed, standing up. "I love you!"

Toris's eyes widened. "Feliks… How do I know you're not lying to get me to come back to Hitherea with you?"

Feliks spread his arms out. "You're a green magic user. Just check me. I promise I'm not lying!"

"I'm never using magic again. That's what took my friend away."

"But it's your destiny. If the prophet says it has to happen, then it does."

"We choose our own destiny, Feliks."

"I guess I'll have someone else to talk to you, then." Matthew waved his hand and appeared before Toris and Feliks.

"Hey, Toris," he said, smiling slightly before pushing up his glasses slightly.

"Alfred's brother… Matthew. You're hurt, just look at you."

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I've had worse." Matthew pulled out a chair and sat beside Toris and Feliks. "Look, Toris, I'm sad about Alfred's death too. I was his brother and he was always beside me, but moping about and feeling sorry for ourselves is not going to solve anything. Toris, remember that Alfred died saving not only your life but also the lives of many others living in both Earth and Hitherea. Without you, the world will fall and crumble. Is that what Alfred would of wanted?"

"That's, like, a totally cliché line, Matthew," Feliks interjected.

"Shut up, Feliks! I'm trying to make a point, here."

Toris sighed again. "I'll think about it." Toris ran upstairs. He thought his period of loss was over, gone, but Matthew just so happened to want him to come back. He was no king. He was only an average person who lived in Earth. They should go find someone else to be their idiotic king, but not Toris, why him out of all people.

Toris deliberately took the long route to his room in order to avoid Alfred's room out of worry that the memory might trigger inside of his head again. He slammed his door shut and plopped down onto his bed, burying his face in his pillow and allowing his tears to soak onto it. He found himself getting lost in his mind, in the supposed realm that green magic had created. He promised himself that he would never use magic again, but being immersed in his own thoughts, he couldn't help it.

Toris felt a hand upon his head, and glanced up to see that Alfred was standing right there above him. "Alfred? Is that you?"

Alfred's eyes were hollow and mournful as he helped Toris stand up, yet he had a clear smile on his face. "Yes, Toris. It's me."

"But you're-"

"Dead. Dude, I know that."

"But is it really you?" Toris asked, gently reaching and touching Alfred's shoulder.

"Oh, you mean the real spirit who still has remains in this world, or just a figment of your imagination simulated by your magical powers." Alfred cocked his head slightly to one side. "I suppose I don't really know that either."

Toris hugged Alfred in one quick motion, burying his face into his shoulder. "But it's you."

Alfred stroke Toris's back slightly. "But, yeah, it is me."

They stood like that for a while, Toris desperately holding onto his friend, not wanting him to ever leave until Alfred broke the silence. "Did I die a heroic death?"

Toris shoved Alfred away. "Is that all you care about?"

"No- I… I've always wanted to be hailed as a hero of great bravery, known by the world as such an amazing face. It was one of my life goals. I guess it's kind of childish, but it was always my goal. But, of course, I'll never achieve that now, so I guess I'm just wondering if you at least considered my death heroic."

"I guess saving me could be considered heroic. Sacrifice. Sure, automatically heroic."

Alfred looked down at his hands, flexing them a bit. "I give up my life to save yours and all I get back is some sarcastic remarks about how 'heroic' it was? Why was I even your friend, Toris?"

Toris embraced Alfred in another hug. "I'm sorry, Alfred. You know I'm sad, angry, and really just a messy mix of random emotions, and I guess I'm just taking out my anger on you…"

Alfred pulled Toris closer to him. "But, you know, Matthew was right."

"Matthew? About what?"

"That is part of the reason I saved you. So many people in Hitherea will die without the King of Ages, including so many of my friends. I can't let that happen. And I can't let you die either."

"So? They're still alive and I am too."

"Not for long unless you become the king. But you know what?"

"What?"

"I am glad that my best bro is still alive."

Toris sighed in Alfred's embrace. "I'm glad you care."

Alfred backed out of the hug suddenly. "I, uh, have to leave now and stuff. Oh! One more thing. If you see any of my buddies from Hitherea, tell them that I love them."

Toris nodded as it struck him these were the last words Alfred would ever say to him. "Alfred, I… I love you… You know, in a friend way." Tears began to roll down his face as his throat tightened up.

Alfred smiled and laughed slightly. "I love you too, man." He opened up the door and strode out, but Toris could still hear his voice echoing in the distance. "Bye, Toris," it said in one last, faint, whisper.

Toris opened up his eyes with a start, breathing heavily. His muscles were weary like the first time he had used magic, and he had not enough energy to get up immediately. Toris lay in his bed for a few seconds, contemplating what Alfred had told him.

So it had all been a dream made by his magic, or maybe it was just Alfred's spirit using some sort of magic on him. Perhaps it had been only a figment of his mind that he had awakened with his magic.

His pillow was soaked, however, so the tears, each and every one of them must have been real. Toris had made his decision. He was going to go back to Hitherea to become the king.

"Feliks, Matthew," he said as he came down the stairs.

Feliks was at the door while Matthew was busy pulling gently on his sleeve to try to convince him to stay. Feliks turned towards Toris and Matthew relaxed his arm. "Oh hey, Toris, that was fast. What do you want? Have you decided?"

"Yes, Matthew was right. It would be what Alfred wanted. I'm coming back with you to Hitherea. I'm coming back to become the king."

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN - So, Toris finally snapped. Also, whether Alfred was a real fragment of spirit stalking Toris and waiting to talk to him or just a construct of his mind, I don't know, you decide. This chapter was unintentionally long and I'm sorry it was late. I have no school and really no excuse other than my laziness, but I still hope you enjoy.**_


	10. Chapter 10 - Green Master

Feliks jumped up and down with excitement. "Yes! Yes! We're going to Hitherea. We're going to Hitherea," he chanted.

"So, do you remember where we were before all of this happened?" Toris asked. "Weren't we going to go to the place on earth that corresponded to the opposite side of the cliffs?"

"Oh yeah! Do you have like a giant map of the world or whatever?"

"Yeah, sure." Toris got up and grabbed a globe from a nearby shelf, giving it to Feliks. Feliks didn't look to quite understand what the globe was, and stared at it in confusion.

"What is this? This isn't a map. It's spherical."

"Well, the Earth is round, obviously."

"What!?"

Toris brought his hand to his face. "Just find out where we need to go."

Feliks stared at the globe some more. "Aha!" He suddenly yelled out, pointing at a place right in the Pacific Ocean. He looked back at Toris.

"That's… in the middle of the ocean."

"But that's the place. I'm like so sure of it!"

Toris ended up using a lot of his money on renting a private helicopter to fly to one of the Pacific islands that Feliks was talking about. After searching a bit, Toris, Feliks, and Matthew jumped through the portal. Eventually, Feliks had lead them through a forest to find the "most powerful green magician" he had claimed to know.

The forest in Hitherea was the most majestic place Toris had ever seen. Feliks had explained to him that the place they had visited before was a magical desert and very little existed there. Here, it was plentiful, above average in fact. There were magical beings like fairies buzzing through the air and Toris even thought he saw a herd of centaurs at one point and maybe even a unicorn galloping through the woods. Rainbow colored birds swooped between the pearl white tree leaves surrounded by pink budding flowers of soon coming spring.

Eventually, after a while and a few hours of walking, they came across the hut.

"Well, we're here!"

Matthew and Toris exchanged a glance. "Yeah, but was not stopping for food at all really necessary?" Toris questioned.

"Yeah..." Matthew agreed, clutching his stomach.

Feliks turned to the two of them. "Yes! Of course it is. Do you, like, want Ivan to recover faster?"

"How will that…"

Matthew shook his head. "Just leave it. We'll eat when-" Matthew began, but then stopped as he looked up at the hut. "Wait, this is Arthur's house."

"Yep! Oh, you know he's the greatest green magician in Hitherea."

"Oh, I knew he was quite powerful, but I had no idea."

Feliks knocked on the door and Arthur answered almost immediately. "Hello, uh, the Guardian? And Matthew? The prince?" Arthur bowed onto his knees. "I apologize for whatever disrespect I have shown to you."

Feliks chuckled before walking straight into Arthur's hut, beckoning for Toris to follow, only to see Arthur jump up and stare at in surprise. "Just because you're the bloody guardian, doesn't mean you can burst into my house uninvited!"

"I totally can," Feliks replied, plopping himself down on a chair in Arthur's room.

"For a four thousand year old spirit, he's really not what you'd expect," Toris said, sending a glare at Feliks. "Anyway, we know that you're the most powerful green magician in Hitherea, and we came here for you to teach it to me in the best way."

Arthur bowed again. "It would be my ultimate honor."

Feliks pumped his fist in the air. "That's totally cool. Everything's like finally going well."

Arthur began pacing back and forth. "So. This means you live under my schedule. The best way to learn green magic is to be isolated away from others other than your teacher so that you can understand yourself better and thus strengthen bonds between you and your surroundings by plunging deeper in the green realm . Say, prince, have you ever had green magic used on you? It will affect the strategy that I will use to teach you."

Feliks looked down and shuffled his feet. "I may have used the stress relief spell on him. And dream entering..."

"Well that's just fine, isn't it? I know you're already pressed on time considering the state of the current king, but now the minimum to be able to master green magic is four months. Matthew. Show the Guardian to his room. I'll take the prince now." Arthur grabbed Toris's hand and dragged him off, Toris realizing that Arthur had still not asked his name.

The next month was a dreary time for Toris. Every day, he woke up, had a tasteless breakfast, learned how to dwell deep into the world of green magic, ate an equally tasteless dinner, and went to sleep. Toris enjoyed immersing himself in the world of green magic and exploring its depths with Arthur, who he had still not told about Alfred's death. Toris was not allowed any outside communication, which included talking with Feliks. He wasn't pleased about this rule, but he supposed that if it was necessary for him to learn magic and eventually save Hitherea, he would make that commitment.

Today, Toris had not been woken up by Arthur, but, he did wake at the same time out of habit. When he exited his room, he found Matthew eating pancakes with Arthur. Toris stared back, confused and his mouth watered as he had not been allowed decent food in the entire span of this month, or contact with anyone but Arthur.

"Hey, Toris," Matthew greeted, but Toris just stood there in shock. He hadn't thought too much much about Arthur's rules, considering that he had been learning the magic extremely quickly. Arthur told him that he had learned what had taken him five years in a singular month. He told him that he had a lot of potential and that he hadn't even heard of any recent kings using white magic.

Arthur got up and walked over to Toris. "It's your day off today. All of the rules are suspended for today. You've earned it." Toris still remained staring back at him in surprise as a smile touched Arthur's lips. "Do whatever the hell you want, prince."

Toris nodded, taking in the information. "Alright, then where's Feliks?"

As if he was on cue, Feliks burst into the room and half tackled, half hugged Toris, causing them both to fall onto Arthur's floor.

Feliks began to bawl loudly. "Toris I can finally see you it's been forever why is Arthur so mean he wouldn't even let me say hi to you or talk to you please don't let Arthur take you away because that's even worse and this is the worst month ever stay with me..." Feliks cried into Toris's shoulder. Toris patted his back in an attempt to comfort him as his words trailed off.

"Well, I'm here now, and isn't that what matters?"

Feliks sniffed before holding onto Toris even more tightly. "Y-yeah, I guess."

"Not to mention, I have been learning very fast and well. Maybe I'll show you some later."

"Yeah…"

The day passed quickly for Toris, and it was much more enjoyable than those slow, bland days of learning magic with Arthur. He spent it learning and playing Hitherean games, mostly card games and things like them. Feliks would often bounce between the two of them, giggling while he told Toris what exactly Arthur's hand. Arthur would get enraged about this while Toris would cover his ears and send a stare at Feliks, who would just giggle.

After a few games (which Arthur had won of course, considering he had lived in Hitherea the longest), Matthew joined in, which reminded Toris of his last chat with Alfred, and how he had been told him to tell…

"Arthur," Toris said, interjecting one of their games.

"Yes?" Arthur replied.

"It's Alfred…"

"I know…"

"But, he told me that he loves you."

Arthur choked back a few tears. "He was like a younger brother to me, after he and Matthew lost the only real family they had other than each other…"

"I know."

"Anyway, shall we continue?"

Toris looked down, not saying anything for a few seconds. "How are you able to move on like that and just continue with our game?"

"It's- it's part of being a green magician. You have to know always what you're thinking and your own emotions very well to be able to dwell in the green realm, as you know, and part of that is accepting loss and sadness." A longing look twinged Arthur's eyes as he and Toris did continue with the game.

Later that night, Toris finally did spend some time alone with Feliks. Sitting so close that they could feel each other's heat, they gazed up at the stars together, admiring their beauty and Toris noting how different they were from the ones on Earth, like a each dots on a rainbow shining in all different colors. Hitherea was a truly magical place.

Eventually, Toris began to doze off on Feliks's shoulder when he remembered the words that had come out of Feliks's mouth about bending magic or whatever that was. And how Feliks had told him that he loved him, and to use his magic so he knew it was true.

"Feliks…"

"Yeah?"

"Remember how you you told me that you had bent your magic to love me?"

Feliks paused for a moment, looking away. "Yeah…"

"Well, yesterday I learned how to see someone's emotional mind."

Feliks nodded. "So you were going to…"

Toris placed his forehead onto Feliks's forehead. "The best way to transition power is through the head," he explained, before closing his eyes and focussing on concentrating himself into the green realm.

When Toris opened his eyes, he was no longer touching foreheads with Feliks, but dwelling within the magical world, the an image of his real body only a background to what he was now. Before him was what Feliks's mind was, every emotion he felt and every memory he knew. But, it was not quite what he had thought a mind to look like. While Arthur's emotions (because he had practiced on him) branched out and formed complicated patterns, Feliks's mind was straight and simple, like an arrow moving in a single direction. So that's what he meant in the terms of not having any emotions.

Toris circled around his mind, searching for what he had meant with bending his mind, and let out a gasp at what he saw. There, pealing off from the original arrow, was a piece of his emotions that were separate from the rest. Even as Toris watched, it was branching out, expanding, changing before his eyes. Toris reached his hand and laid a finger on that piece of his mind, and immense emotion came flooding through him. He saw images of himself, the times that Feliks and him had kissed, and everything they had done together. And through him flowed a feeling that could only be described as love, pure and true.

Toris opened his eyes and stared back into Feliks's in shock. "I- I…" he began, but had no words. Instead, he pressed his lips onto Feliks's, putting hands onto the back of his head and pulling him closer. Feliks embraced him in the kiss, pressing up against Toris and eventually ended up pushing himself on top of Toris, who let him get on top.

Suddenly, something changed in Toris's mind and he shoved Feliks off of him, only to see Arthur standing right above them, glaring down at them. "What the hell are you two doing?" he asked.

Toris's cheeks flushed deeply as he stared back awkwardly, not knowing what to say. "Uh…"

"Mouths contain one of the highest concentrations of magical energy, and since Feliks uses a physical magic, your mental magic might get infected making it a lot harder to concentrate." Arthur picked up Toris by the collar and dragged him off back into the house, receiving a giggle from Feliks.

"_I love you too_," Toris mouthed at Feliks as he was carried away. He wasn't sure that Feliks had seen him, but judging by the pure smile that burst out on Feliks's face, Toris could only assume that he had.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN - This is my favorite chapter and I loved writing it so much because of all the romance and stuff. I know I said I'd update this once a week, but since the chapters are long, I'll try to do it once every two weeks. Speaking of chapters, I'll probably only have two more and an epilogue, maybe three. Also, I might come out with a sequel eventually named "Wrath of the Incarcerated Gods" which will explain like everything and also maybe a chapter just named "Arthur's Notes on the Different Types of Magic" Explaining all the different types of magic in Hitherea and what each one does. If anyone wants me to write that, tell me in the reviews or private message me, whatever works, thanks :D**_


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